Yoko Keage

Chamber by raising your knee out to the side with the flat of your foot pointed to the side—you don't need to go directly perpendicular, just raise the knee with the intention of going sideways. Your foot should be drawn in with the sole facing outward, according to Ultimate Karate.

Your leg should come up in a straight line and go down in a straight line, not swing around the way a roundhouse kick does. Ultimate Karate emphasizes visualizing a wall or door in front of you—if the kick becomes circular like a roundhouse, you won't penetrate through the target.

According to John Gardiner, yoko keage is traditionally aimed at low targets including the groin, inside of the thigh, and hip joint, as classical karate doesn't rely on high kicks. The same hip-pop action can be adapted to head height for close-range fighting by angling the knee toward the target.

John Gardiner recommends starting from a natural stance and turning your feet about 45 degrees—this small angle is key to the technique, as the full side-kick foot position is not ideal for yoko keage. You can also start with one leg back to generate torque from your hip flexors, according to Ultimate Karate.

When people try to make yoko keage extremely high in competition, the kick mechanics break down and it becomes more like a mawashi geri (roundhouse kick) because the setup isn't designed for that height, according to John Gardiner. This undermines the technique's original purpose.

Yoko Keage is the rising/snapping side kick in karate — the leg swings upward laterally in a snapping arc, striking with the edge of the foot (sokuto) and retracting quickly. Unlike the thrusting side kick (yoko kekomi) which drives through the target horizontally, keage rises upward into the target from below.

Documented in traditional karate manuals.

WKF Karate: Legal: разрешён — controlled contact; Unified MMA: Legal {src:Unified Rules of MMA, August 2025|/sources/Unified: разрешён — MMA-Rules-August-2025.pdf}; WAKO Kickboxing: Legal {src:WAKO Full Contact Rules|/sources/WAKO: разрешён — Full-Contact-Rules.pdf}

Оценка опасности 5/10. Moderate — rising snap has less power than thrust but targets vulnerable areas.

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Kizami-zuki (jab) → draw opponent's guard up → yoko keage to exposed armpit → Step into opponent's range → front leg yoko keage snap to chin → Block mawashi geri → immediate yoko keage to opponent's ribs while their leg returns.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Catch the leg — grab the snapping kick before it retracts / Step back — the snapping motion has limited range / Low kick counter — attack the standing leg as the kicking leg lifts.

Распространённые варианты: Jodan yoko keage (rising to the head/face); Chudan yoko keage (rising to the ribs/armpit); Gedan yoko keage (rising to the inner thigh).

Primarily a training, demonstration, and point-fighting technique. Rarely seen in full-contact MMA or kickboxing due to acrobatic risk and telegraphing.

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Kicking with the flat of the foot instead of the edge — loses cutting effect / Not retracting — leaves the leg exposed / Pushing instead of snapping — that's kekomi, not keage / Not turning the foot properly — incorrect striking surface.

Yoko Keage также известен как Yoko Keage, Yoko-Keage, Side Snap Rising Kick, Rising Side Kick, Side Keage.